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kin

 - 7 dictionary results

kin

  [kin]
Use kin in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person's relatives collectively; kinfolk.
2. family relationship or kinship.
3. a group of persons descended from a common ancestor or constituting a family, clan, tribe, or race.
4. a relative or kinsman.
5. someone or something of the same or similar kind: philosophy and its kin, theology.
–adjective
6. of the same family; related; akin.
7. of the same kind or nature; having affinity.
—Idiom
8. of kin, of the same family; related; akin: Although their surnames are identical they are not of kin.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE cyn; c. OS, OHG kunni, ON kyn, Goth kuni; akin to L genus, Gk génos, Skt jánas. See gender

Related forms:
kinless, adjective

-kin

 
a diminutive suffix of nouns: lambkin.
Origin:
ME < MD, MLG -ken; c. G -chen
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To kin
kin   (kĭn)   
n.  

  1. (used with a pl. verb) One's relatives; family; kinfolk.

  2. A kinsman or kinswoman.

adj.  Related; akin.

[Middle English, from Old English cyn; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

kin 
O.E. cyn "family, race, kind, nature," from P.Gmc. *kunjan (cf. O.N. kyn, O.H.G. chunni, Goth. kuni "family, race," O.N. kundr "son," Ger. kind "child"), from PIE *gen- "to produce" (see genus). Kinship is a modern word, first attested 1833 in writing of Mrs. Browning.

-kin 
dim. suffix, first attested c.1250 in proper names adopted from Flanders and Holland, probably from M.Du. -kin, properly a double-dim., from -k + -in. Equivalent to Ger. -chen.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: kin
Function: noun
: one's relatives —kin·ship /-"ship/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Idioms & Phrases

kin

see kith and kin.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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